The online ad landscape keeps changing every few years. To get the most out of your money and ensure your ads are effective, it pays to know which ad platforms best suit your audience.

Advertising your business online these days is easier said than done.

Online advertising platforms have gotten more sophisticated and competitive. Not to mention new ad networks and tools have been introduced to provide unique services to different clients. As a result, the process can be a tad overwhelming for most business owners.

Before running an ad campaign, you need to make some decisions first to get the best value for the money you invested in advertising. And one of those decisions has to do with which advertising platform to use – Google or Facebook.

And usually, that’s a tough decision to make for business owners.

It’s because Google and Facebook are the two biggest ad networks today. They can both deliver great results for your business. But to get the best results, you have to know which one suits you the most.

That’s exactly what this article aims to do.

We’ll provide you with important information that will guide you through this process, particularly the three important criteria to consider for both platforms. That way, you’ll have an idea about whether Facebook or Google suits your business best.

The 3 Criteria

Criteria #1 – Targeting Options

As you know, Google is the world’s largest search engine and 5 billion people use it each day. To target these users, you need to leverage specific keywords. That’s how your ads will appear as listings on Google’s search pages, its apps, as well as other related websites.

On the other hand, Facebook is a social media platform with 2.7 billion monthly active users. You can target these people based on their age, income, location, and so on. And your ads will appear in different areas on Facebook and Instagram.

Now, if your customers begin their buying journey via a search, Google Ads is the better option for you. But if they spend most of their time on Facebook or Instagram, you might want to start with Facebook Ads.

But that’s not all.

Keep in mind that Facebook and Google both offer retargeting and remarketing services. So, when a potential lead interacts with your ads, you can continue marketing to them until you’ve converted them into a client.

The truth is that Facebook is more advanced than Google in this regard, but iOS updates are impacting their efficiency. That’s because, since iOS 14, iOS users now have the option to prevent Facebook from remarketing to them. You should put this into consideration.

Also, your ads on Google can appear as search listings, images, videos and so on. However, Facebook ads are mostly visual with lots of room for customisation. As a result, they’re better suited for businesses with good visual content or a good creative team.

Criteria #2 – Pricing

Google and Facebook both employ a competitive model where users bid to get their ads put out on their networks.

The Cost Per Click (CPC) on Google across all industries is about $2.69 on average. And if you have an eCommerce business, you can expect to pay around $1.16 per click.

For businesses in the legal industry, that figure is about $6.75 on average. Insurance businesses, however, have to dole out more money for Google ads. In fact, the most expensive keyword on the platform is “insurance”, which has a CPC of $54.91.

On the other hand, the average eCommerce business will pay around $0.45 per click on Facebook. Insurance and finance businesses pay the most for Facebook ads at $3.77 on average.

Now, these figures vary based on the competition you have when you post your ads. But Generally, Facebook’s CPC rates are cheaper than Google’s.

However, Google ads generally convert better than Facebook’s. That’s because the platform often connects you with people who are already in need of your product or service when they see your ads.

Also, know that both platforms have other pricing options apart from CPC. One of which is the Cost Per Mile (CPM), which is the cost for a thousand views of your ad. There’s also Clickthrough Rate (CTR), Cost Per Action (CPA), and a few others.

Ultimately, you have to know the costs involved in putting your ad campaign on each platform and weigh which one can give you better returns.

Criteria #3 – Performance

Facebook and Google are both excellent ad platforms that can generate great results for your business. However, one performs better than the other in certain areas.

In particular, Facebook performs better than Google in these areas:

• Brand awareness
• Community engagement
• Lead generation
• Email list building
• Mobile advertising

So, if your target demographic has yet to know about you or your product or service, Facebook will suit you better.

But if the majority of your audience already knows about your products, Google is the better option. It’s because ads on this platform perform better at converting people who are already familiar with your products and brand – you only have to use the right keywords.

Choose The Best Ad Platform For Your Business

There’s no one size fits all solution when it comes to advertising your business online. It all depends on your target audience and where your business is at the moment.

You now know that both Facebook and Google offer different ad services and outperform each other in different areas. However, your best bet to get the most out of your ad spend is to use both platforms.

Think of it this way.

If your prospects often search for your products, you could use Google Ads to get their attention. Then, you can retarget them on Facebook to get them to convert. And you can do the opposite if you don’t have enough awareness or search volume about your business just yet.

The truth is that you can’t really predict how your audience will react to your ads. So, it’s best that you run tests on different ad networks of both platforms. This way, you can learn how your audience behaves and where they respond better.

In the end, you’ll see which ad platform works best for you. That’s how you can get the best value for your advertising money. GMS are pros at testing ad networks on both Google and Facebook and identifying platforms that suit a business. Schedule your free consultation with one of our GMS experts to find out how we can help you set up an effective ad campaign for your business on the right platform.